


make sense of me

by prithivas



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Inspired by Life Is Strange
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:49:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25750861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prithivas/pseuds/prithivas
Summary: "So you don't believe it's true love?"Edelgard didn't rely on emotions or feelings; she always calculated her steps and rationalised everything. This, whatever it truly seemed to be, was unknown territory for her. However - seeing the way Dorothea looked at her, the way she asked that question, maybe she could consider that possibility too.(Alternatively, a LIS: Before The Storm AU)
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	1. awake

**Author's Note:**

> title is taken from [a hole in the earth - daughter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmrDzlwJPaU), which is apart of the soundtrack of the game!

"We're here."

Edelgard shrieked at the sudden voice, opening her eyes, and found herself inside a car. Her uncle in the driver's seat was giving her a stern look as he seemed to look her up and down. They were outside the school campus and the sun was now up, bright enough to blind her. She closed her eyes back and sighed.

Another dream. Of course.

She got out of the car without a single word, without looking at her uncle once; and as he drove away, she took a deep breath and went up the stairs, entering the school campus. "Hello, Blackhell," she muttered under her breath and started walking towards the entrance as slowly as possible.

It was comical, that what used to be her dream high school in the past had become her worst nightmare in the blink of an eye; Edelgard enjoyed learning, she _wanted_ to get an education, but the last few years she'd spent here hadn't exactly taught her the stuff she wanted to learn about. Mathematics, science, things she actually enjoyed? No. Rather, she had learned that life was a bitch, and that teenagers were _horrible_ creatures.

Had she gotten the chance, she definitely wouldn't have come to school at all today, not after the crazy night yesterday. Her head was still pounding and she felt extremely sore, and on top of that, she just didn't feel like talking to anyone today - as if she ever did, really.

But of course, attending the same school with many _nosy bitches_ made that impossible.

"Would you look at that," someone said as she walked past by them, causing Edelgard to squeal. "It's Edelgart Hersbelg!"

She turned around to see Hilda sitting at the fountain, with a sly expression on her face. Her recently-dyed pink hair was making her look even more obnoxious than usual, adding to her designer clothes and golden accessories. Edelgard had thought about bleaching her hair on many occasions, as looking at the bland brown colour in the mirror made her sick at times, but after seeing Hilda look like _this,_ she had decided to postpone it.

" _Edelgard,_ " she corrected her, trying her best to not sound pissed off. "It ends with a 'd'. _Edelgard Hresvelg._ "

"Chill, girlie, I know. I'm just teasing!" Goneril suddenly got up and sighed dramatically, giving Edelgard a look. "You know, ever since I won the 'Beacon's Young Designer Award', everyone has been taking me _so_ seriously."

"You don't say," she replied flatly. Edelgard knew what she was trying to do: fishing for compliments, bragging about her accomplishments to make herself seem better than anybody else around her. It was annoying, to say the least.

Her lack of enthusiasm did not stop Hilda, however. "Everyone's putting me on a pedestal and shit, and it wasn't even anything _serious,_ you know? But enough about _me,_ " her expression turned into something more... sinister. "Let's talk about _you_ and _Arnault._ "

She probably should've expected it, but the mention of _her_ name still caught her off guard. "What?"

"Come on, silly," Hilda stood up and got closer to Edelgard, who in return took a step away from her. "We've all seen that pic from yesterday. Do tell."

The picture Dorothea had taken of them during the concert yesterday, she assumed. It still didn't feel quite real that she had even come across the girl yesterday, at the mill of all places. She'd just wanted to see the band, but had ended up getting her ass saved - not that she _needed_ it.

_(Edelgard backed away as the two men stared at her with murderous intent, though she wasn't scared of them. They were clearly drunk and nowhere near as intimidating as they thought they were. "Are you this mad over a spilt beer?" She laughed. "How pathetic."_

_One of them lunged forward, "I'll show you who's path-"_

_"Hey," a voice shouted from behind, but Edelgard couldn't see the person clearly. "Over here, assholes!" The men turned around to see who it was, and that's when Edelgard punched the guy's face._

_He fell on the ground with a thud and cursed loudly, and she decided to take the chance to flee the scene. Before she could run away, though, the other guy punched Edelgard in the eye, then knelt to help the one on the ground. She rubbed her face, grunting, and turned to the person standing next to her, who ended up being... a familiar face._

_"Dorothea?"_

_Edelgard knew her - well, everyone did, she was one of the most popular people at Blackwell. Though now, she didn't look the way she usually did at school; her hair was tied to a ponytail and her makeup was heavy, dark - so were her clothes. She looked angry too, with eyebrows furrowed and lips curled down._

_Without saying anything, she took Edelgard's hand and dragged them out of there.)_

"There is nothing to tell," she said to Hilda, taking another step back. "It's just a photo."

She grunted before sitting back down and grabbing her notebook. "You're _no fun._ Just a photo you say, but you have a black eye and everything." Hilda pointed a finger at her face with a smile like she wanted to humiliate her. Edelgard tried to cover it with her hair, feeling embarrassed. "Seriously, at least tell me about her a little. You know I love a good gossip. What's she like outside school? Anything crazy?"

"I don't fucking _know,_ Hilda," she snapped, "it's just a _photo_! That's all! Why do you want to talk about her so bad, anyway?"

Though she seemed to be taken aback, Hilda managed to play it off effortlessly. "It's _Dorothea_ . I just wanna know what's up with _little miss perfect_ , you know? Whether she's as good as people say she is."

"Okay, so, you're jealous of her?"

She gasped. "Of course not!" When Edelgard raised her eyebrows, she groaned loudly and turned her attention back to her notebook. "Whatever, I don't have time for this! If you couldn't tell, I have an assignment to finish, and you're distracting me."

And suddenly, Edelgard got... an idea, looking down at what's written in the notebook. "Is that the chemistry assignment? I could give you the answers, if you want."

"You would?" She looked more pleading rather than suspicious _. She must be desperate._ "Okay, princess, tell me."

"Hm... It's supposed to be fluorine, uranium, carbon, potassium and, uh, uranium again."

Hilda's eyes were beaming as she wrote it down. "You, Edelgart, are a total lifesaver."

Edelgard walked away with an evil grin on her face and headed to the main entrance. She was wondering how long it would take Hilda to realise what she'd said, until the door opened and she was met with a familiar face, once again.

"Hey," Dorothea exclaimed, looking into her eyes. She was wearing a full-body outfit - a costume, Edelgard realised. "Great timing! Come with me." And before the other girl could understand what was happening, she was being dragged away, once again.

A _play_. She could have asked for help with so many things, yet Dorothea wanted her to watch their rehearsal and give her opinion. She had no idea why she was dragged into this, as she didn't know jack shit about acting and theatre, but here she was.

It was a Shakespeare play, as far as she knew. _The Tempest._ Yet knowing the name, or hearing the students act a scene didn't help her understand what it was about. Not at all.

"Tell me dear," the theatre teacher, Ms. Casagranda asked her cheerfully, "do you think these two characters are truly in love? Or does it seem like that to them because of their lack of experience?"

Yet another thing Edelgard didn't know much about - love, relationships, _emotions_ . Teenagers being stupid. What was she supposed to answer that with? How was she supposed to know whether it was true love or not, when she was just as inexperienced as the two? And adding to that, she had no context about the game except the few lines the students have just recited, and it was _obviously_ not enough.

But everyone was looking at her, expecting an answer.

"I can't say for certain," she started, "but the way Miranda acts is so, uh, naïve? How old is she?"

"She is around fifteen," Ferdinand, who played Ferdinand, answered her.

Edelgard nodded as she looked at Constance. "Then I believe it would be safe to say it's the latter... However, it's a school play, isn't it? It would be good to dramatize it a bit to give a performance worth the money."

Dorothea giggled beside her, "How cynical of you. So you don't believe it's true love?"

"Well," Edelgard turned to Dorothea and was met with her green eyes staring right into her soul, and she faltered for a moment. "Maybe..? I guess sometimes... when you meet someone who is going to change your life," she tore her gaze away, "you can feel it. But who am I to say?"

Edelgard didn't rely on emotions or feelings; she always calculated her steps and rationalised everything. This, whatever it truly seemed to be, was unknown territory for her. However - seeing the way Dorothea looked at her, the way she asked that question, maybe she could consider that possibility too.

Ms. Casagranda sighed, clearly not satisfied. "Thank you for your input, young lady."

Everyone else left after that except for Dorothea, who asked Edelgard to grab her belt from her backpack and bring it to the dressing room. And so she did, but then she decided to wait at the door with the belt in her hand, as she was too scared to go in. For no reason, especially not because she was embarrassed.

"My God, why are you just standing there?"

She looked inside to see Dorothea poking her head behind the curtain. "Oh, uh. I'm not sure."

Dorothea giggled. "Come here, I won't bite. I swear." She winked at her before she was once again out of sight, and Edelgard had to take a deep breath before she walked in. Reluctantly, she opened the curtain and handed the girl her belt.

"I, um," she started, because it felt awkward to stay silent. "I really liked your costume."

"Oh, thanks! Did you bring any gifts?"

"Was I supposed to?"

The laugh that escaped Dorothea was... Loud, bubbly, melodic. It sounded great, just as much as how she sounded when she spoke with others. She had a captivating voice. "This belt will have to do for now, but I will be expecting something next time." She then winked and closed the curtain, mumbling a song quietly.

_Next time?_

Edelgard patiently waited for her to finish changing, and thankfully it didn't take too long. When she opened the curtain, fully this time, she was wearing a red crop top and some ripped black jeans. It was different from what she was used to seeing her in - mostly skirts and knee socks. "So... Edelgard."

She was surprised to know that after all, the girl _did_ know her name. Well, maybe it wasn't so surprising, given that she had a reputation amongst the students. "Dorothea?"

"Where did you get your eye done? It looks _fabulous_." When she didn't get any response to that, she sighed, though the smile on her face stayed the same. "That asshole really clocked you, huh?"

"It's not a big deal."

Dorothea giggled good-naturedly, before taking a step forward. "Not gonna lie, it looks bad. Would you like me to cover it?" Edelgard thought about it for a second before nodding: she didn't want to walk around with a black eye, did she? "Alright! Just sit down and let me work my magic."

As she sat down with her eyes closed and Dorothea applied the concealer, she remembered to ask, "Why am I here, by the way?" Surely, there was a reason she was still kept around. First the rehearsal, then her belt, and now this...

"I had a lot of fun last night," came the answer, and she sounded sincere saying it. "I found myself wishing the night would never end... But then I realised," there was a pause as Dorothea started tapping around her eye gently, "it doesn't have to end. So I thought, hm, maybe we could just get the hell out of here!"

Everything about this was weird, _really_ weird. Edelgard had never once talked to Dorothea before yesterday, and even yesterday they didn't really have an actual conversation - they had just listened to the band together in the crowd, nothing... intimate. After all, it was _Dorothea_ , she almost seemed untouchable, out of her league. And now they were here, and Dorothea was applying her concealer on her eye just out of kindness, and she was asking Edelgard to skip school.

But most importantly, "You wanna skip school? _You?_ "

Unlike Edelgard, who had a... reputation, Dorothea was a model student who never skipped class. It was infatuating, really, that she was good at _everything_ \- her grades were amazing, she got along well with everyone, her family was filthy rich and her father a government official, she was _beautiful_ and also kind too. She didn't come off as real, she was too perfect.

And yet, here she was. "It's really not that weird, just a brilliant offer for the number one troublemaker of the school," challenged Dorothea. Her hands were removed from her face. "Now, check this out."

Edelgard opened her eyes and stared at her reflection in the mirror. It looked completely normal, like it's never been there in the first place. "Holy shit..." Her eyes met Dorothea's through the mirror, and she averted her gaze. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." She put the concealer on the table before turning around and leaning on it. "So? About my most amazing offer..."

They were train-hopping in a matter of minutes. Edelgard was out of breath, and though Dorothea was too, she was doing a great job steadying herself. "Breathing exercises," she exhaled, "I thank you once again."

Edelgard had a harder time composing herself. "Wh- Where is this train... even headed?"

"No idea, south?" She looked outside briefly before turning to Edelgard with a bright smile. "Maybe we'll end up in Seattle."

 _That would be both great and terrifying_ , she thought, feeling sour.

They found two crates at the back of the wagon and moved them so that they could sit facing each other while they simultaneously watched the scenery. The train was slow and didn't take any turns, so they had no problem moving around. When Edelgard sat on her own, Dorothea did too, and suddenly it was awkwardly silent as neither of them initiated a conversation.

See, Edelgard was bad at small talk, and surely Dorothea would have no problem starting a conversation herself. If she wasn't doing so and instead looked outside, seemingly both at peace and excited, that probably meant she didn't mind it for now. She didn't have a problem with it either, but having been dragged out of school was extraordinary. Normally she would be alone whenever she skipped school, not like she ever thought of offering coming with her to someone, ever.

But this was nice. Despite the lack of conversation, it felt nice to have company.

"I have an idea," Dorothea exclaimed suddenly. "Let's play a game?"

Edelgard raised her eyebrows. "What kind of a game..?"

"Don't worry," she got up from her crate and instead sat on the floor at the edge of the carriage, wiggling her feet out. _So we moved these crates for nothing._ "It will be fun! I guarantee."

She complied, trying to keep a reasonable distance as she sat down. Dorothea, however, scooted closer as soon as she did; and looking her in the eye, it was clear that she knew what she was doing.

"Two truths and a lie," she stated, wiggling her eyebrows. "So that we can get to know each other a little."

Edelgard made a noise of acknowledgement. She was horrible at talking about herself or opening up... or people in general. But maybe this would be an easier way of doing so. "Alright, why not."

Dorothea giggled and leaned a little more towards Edelgard, causing the girl to stop breathing for a single second. "It's fairly simple; you make three statements about yourself, one of them is a lie. The other person has to guess which one is the lie." Edelgard nodded. "Then, I will start!"

For a few moments, Dorothea looked around as if she was trying to spot the truths around her. It did not take too long, however, before she looked back at Edelgard with a neutral face.

 _Ah,_ she realised, _maybe playing this with a theatre kid was not the best idea._

"First one," she stated, and her voice was flat as well. "I poisoned Lorenz from English after our first show in freshman year." 

Edelgard blinked. Certainly, it was an interesting way to start the game. "Accidentally?"

Dorothea only stared at her, before moving on. Her... _'expressionlessness'_ made Edelgard feel weird. "Second, I'm originally not from here, but from New York. We moved here right before my sixth birthday."

"New York, huh? I've never been." She hasn't gone out of this town ever, actually. It was a true curse to be stuck here, not being able to get away from every single one of her problems, but it's not like she could leave if she wanted to.

"Lastly, I'm a Libra. Sun and moon."

 _Sun and-_ "What? What does that even mean?"

Without offering any further explanation, Dorothea leaned back a little and finally smiled at her. "So? What's it going to be?" 

This was hard. Dorothea had made sure to pick each one of her statements carefully, that much was obvious, and it was nearly impossible for Edelgard to tell what exactly her tactic was. The food poisoning was most likely to throw her off, especially saying it before the other two so that she'd be confused.

First one had too much detail, the last one was incredibly vague and a specific knowledge which Dorothea probably knew she had no clue about. She concluded there was a good chance it was the second statement. "I don't get New York vibes from you..."

Dorothea raised an eyebrow slightly. "Is that supposed to be an insult?"

"Maybe."

"Wow, harsh." She giggled, eyes glimmering. "But you are correct! We _did_ move here before I could even turn six, but I'm actually from Long Beach."

Edelgard sat a bit straighter, a bit more prideful. _So she did, in fact, use the half-lie tactic_ , she couldn't help but think before she spoke. "Interesting. Surely it must have been better than this... crappy town." She waved a hand around, then came to a halt as she realised. "Wait- so you _did_ poison Lorenz!"

Dorothea pressed her lips into a thin line and inhaled, before saying, "It _was_ an accident, but I'd be lying if I said he didn't deserve it." Edelgard looked at her, agape, as she combed her hair with her fingers. "Enough of me, though - it's your turn."

It took Edelgard longer to come up with stuff than it did for Dorothea, because she wasn't really sure what to say, how much she should or could say. It was just an ice breaker, wasn't it? She was supposed to pick more light-hearted stuff.

"Alright," she concluded, and thankfully her naturally stoic expression would help her out this time. She decided to start off with something boring. "One, I'm ambidextrous, but I usually use my left for writing." Dorothea nodded in acknowledgement. "Two, I broke my hand punching Felix in fifth grade."

"Wait," Dorothea interrupted, raising a hand. "Fraldarius?" When Edelgard nodded, she barked out a laugh. "You're _kidding,_ holy shit!"

Edelgard just shrugged before continuing. "Third, I used to play the guitar when I was younger, but the only songs I knew how to play were country songs."

Dorothea laughed lightly, and grabbed both of Edelgard's hands in the blink of an eye. "You are hella mysterious, Edie."

The nickname made her feel weird. " _Hella?_ "

"It's a Cali thing," she shrugged, "but I think I figured it out. Everything you said had something to do with your hands, that's quite intriguing."

Now it was Edelgard's turn to shrug. "It's easier to stick to a single subject." When Dorothea started rubbing her hands, eyes fixated on them, she tried her best not to pull them away. "So..?"

"You did the same thing," she looked up, "The second one, right?"

Edelgard's eyes went wide. "Oh- um, yeah. That was quick."

"Well, let's see," her eyes dropped back down and she started examining her left hand. "You have a bump on your middle finger." She pointed at it - it was a small one, nearly impossible to see. She must have felt it while she was rubbing her hands, and Edelgard hadn't even noticed. "That means you use this hand. And also, when we were moving the crates you held that with your right hand, so I think the first part was true as well."

It was impressive, and shocking, that she'd paid that much attention to Edelgard. "That's... kind of creepy, not gonna lie."

Dorothea blinked innocently. "Second one, I see the scar here," she turned her hands to point it out, "but it doesn't look like one you'd get from a punch. I think it's more like... I'm guessing you fell?"

And now it was getting more creepy. " _Fuck off_ , how could you possibly know that?"

"I know scars quite well," she stated, and Edelgard couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that. "Wait, another guess. You fell from... a skateboard."

"Holy shit," Edelgard breathed and almost pulled her hands away, but Dorothea's grip was stronger than she thought it was. "Well, at least I can _proudly_ say that only the broken hand part was a lie."

Dorothea's eyes sparkled as her grip tightened even more. "Please, you _have_ to tell me the whole story someday... I wish I could have seen it myself." With Edelgard's nod, she continued. "For the last one, don't get me wrong, but I could _totally_ imagine you playing one of those cheesy songs about, what, trucks? I have no idea what country songs are about."

"Let it stay that way..." For a second, she hesitated to say anything else and looked away. At this point, she'd already opened up this much in years, and maybe it would be the best if she were to stop, but something in her heart told her that she had nothing to worry about. For the first time in quite a while, she decided to listen to that voice. "I used to listen to country music a lot," she admitted, "before my uncle completely ruined it."

"Your uncle?"

Edelgard groaned. "You wouldn’t even think he likes country with the way he looks, but he does - and piece of shit has the worst taste ever. On top of that, he acts like he is the only one capable of having opinions."

"Sounds like an asshole," Dorothea sighed. "I take you two don't get along?"

"Not at all,” Edelgard confirmed. “He always acts like I'm just a problem that needs to be solved... I guess sometimes I _am_ a problem, though.

" _Don't_ say that."

The strict tone caught her off guard, and when she looked up Dorothea was staring at her intensely. Her lips were pressed into a thin line. "What?"

"You are not a problem, Edelgard. You are a person."

They stared at each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity for Edelgard, and she found it hard to breathe. Could she really believe that? It was hard to, when everyone around her treated her like she was indeed nothing more than trouble. She always made things harder for everyone around her without even realising, and surely things would be easier if she were to disappear into thin air. Or so she thought most of the time.

But Dorothea sounded so... sincere.

Maybe she could believe her. Maybe.

When she looked away, Edelgard heard the other girl hum. "So that would mean... you didn't cheat."

"Did you expect me to?" It was a genuine question.

Dorothea made a noise that indicated she didn't. "Most people would assume you would, I think. You do have a reputation."

"So do you," she turned her attention back to Dorothea, who was looking outside. "But I guess our reputations would be on opposite sides of the same spectrum."

"And somehow, we're on the same train, aren't we?" She looked at Edelgard, smiling. "I guess I never thanked you."

Edelgard was confused. "For what?"

"You skipped school, got on this train. For me." She scratched her cheek. "And, well, I guess you opened up a little."

She had, in fact, opened up and did those things for Dorothea. Sure, she wanted to do it for herself too, but it was mostly for the other. "I don't know, I felt like I could trust you."

This time Dorothea was the one to look away, and maybe it was just Edelgard, but she seemed to be embarrassed. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The rest of the ride, they listened to some music, sharing a pair of earbuds.

After getting off the train, they spent their time together at the park laughing at people, stealing a couple's wine, walking around, laughing, having fun. Compared to yesterday, it felt really peaceful - they were having fun. Together. Although this was the first time they had ever hung out like this together, it felt natural, like they were... meant to spend their time together.

It sounded cheesy, but Edelgard couldn't stop thinking about it.

Though as time went by, Dorothea seemed to become less and less enthusiastic. Maybe it was the exhaustion catching up to her, because Edelgard was having a hard time trying to think of what else could've been causing her to be sulking like this. Nevertheless, she didn't look like she was enjoying herself at all.

"Check it out," Edelgard pointed ahead while they were walking on the train tracks. "It's a junkyard."

"A pile of trash," she deadpanned. "Great."

(Didn't sound so joyful either.)

They went in and Dorothea sat on a crate next to an old, broken water dispenser. Edelgard stared at her, unsure of what she was supposed to be doing. Would talking be a good thing to do? Or maybe she needed to be left alone, deal with whatever she's going through by herself. But was it okay to let her be in a situation like this?

Was it rude to ask what's wrong?

Edelgard walked around a little bit, tapping on a road sign that's been folded in half - she desperately needed to fill the silence. Dorothea, however, seemingly did not think the same.

"If you don't _mind,_ " she started, "I really need some space right now."

"Why?" Edelgard couldn't help but ask, because something was clearly wrong. She felt bitter, suddenly. "I thought we had a good time. Did I do something wrong, somehow?"

Dorothea suddenly got up from where she sat and walked up to Edelgard, who took a step back. "Not everything has to be about you. Maybe you could try having a _heart_ and caring about _others for once!_ "

As soon as the words left her mouth, they stared at each other. Dorothea's expression turned from distressed to... surprised, or something more complicated. What she said kept ringing inside Edelgard's head and it _hurt,_ it hurt way more than it should have.

Sure, she's been accused of the same thing many times - being selfish, self-centred, heartless. Sure, she didn't mind people hating her, or saying bad shit about her. But after having such a great time with Dorothea, after trusting her... Hearing _that_ , coming from her, _hurt_.

But of course, what did she expect? Just because they had spent one day together, suddenly they were close? Absolutely not, and this was the proof. And yet rather than feeling angry as she thought she would feel, she felt sad. Broken.

"I'm-" Dorothea started, but swallowed down the rest of the words as tears started streaming down her face. After that, she couldn't even bring herself to apologise. "I'm leaving," she said instead, after a pause.

As she stepped back slowly, Edelgard reached out to her - though before she could grab Dorothea's wrist, she pulled away. "Don't - don't go," she pleaded, feeling desperate. "I don't want to ruin this... like I ruin everything else."

"And what's _this,_ exactly?" Dorothea asked, or more so whispered. In contrast to her harsh tone, it was much softer - it was a genuine question.

What _was_ this? Indeed, that was the question.

"Today was... one of the greatest days I've had in years, probably," Edelgard admitted. "And I- I don't want it to end like this. And I think..." She took a deep breath and looked away. "Whatever it is that's going on between us, it's something special. Or, ah, maybe that's just me."

When she looked back up, Dorothea looked just as broken as she felt, and maybe even a bit horrified. "Edelgard..."

"It's okay," she reassured her. "It's - That's fine, I swear. I'll leave you alone now, you don't have to... do anything." This time it was Edelgard that took a step back: she smiled, though there was no doubt it didn't look anything like an actual one. Dorothea stood still for a few moments before she turned around and left the graveyard in a hurry, and all Edelgard could do was watch her, with arms crossed.

Of course there was no way the two would work, anyway. It wasn't meant to be, and Edelgard wasn't meant to experience happiness not even once in her life.

* * *

_And while it's cold outside, she waits in the middle of nowhere for something to come. Someone whispers into her ear, but there is no one around. It's hard to figure out what the ghost is telling her, until-_

_"People need you, Edelgard."_

_She knows the owner of the voice, and yet desperately wishes she didn't. Even hearing them, seeing them in her dreams hurts like a thousand needles being pounded into her brain. "No," she says with her hands covering her ears, "they don't."_

_"But she does," the ghost whispers again. "She may not want to admit it, but I think she needs company."_

_A hand comes into view, detached from its body. Edelgard gasps and takes a step back, staring at the hand in horror._

_"Go and talk to her, will you? You'll know where to find her."_

_She hesitantly reaches out for the hand, and it disappears. She is all alone once again, surrounded by the darkness - so, she screams._

* * *

When Edelgard opened her eyes, she found herself sprawled on top of a broken car. The sun was out of sight, and she was still in the junkyard. _Weird, I must have fallen asleep. I wonder how..._

(The words still echoed inside her head.)

She looked around desperately, hoping to find a sign, hoping to see her - it was completely silent.

Was she truly waiting for her? When they talked, Edelgard was fairly sure Dorothea clearly stated she wanted to be left alone - but she was worried about her. The last look she had given her was too much for her to handle, she couldn't stop thinking about her.

After today, it didn't feel right to let her be. She wanted to help. She wanted to do her best to help Dorothea out, no matter what it was that had made her upset.

So she walked, not still completely aware of her surroundings - the aftermath of the dream continued on, making her unable to focus on anything. Edelgard never was one to follow her heart, she believed that everything had to be rational; but now, she wasn't even sure what would happen if she were to come face to face with Dorothea. After all, she was told to stay away.

Yet she kept on walking, determined to find her.

And so she did.

Under a giant oak tree stood a tall figure, back turned to Edelgard. It was quiet except the sound of the wind, and the moonlight shone down upon the girl whose hands were wrapped around her torso as she rubbed her bare arms, possibly feeling chilly because of the night breeze. She must have not heard Edelgard's footsteps.

"Dorothea?" she called out, her voice raspy. The girl turned around, and she looked even more miserable than when they last talked.

"Edelgard... You came." Her cheeks were wet with tears, and her eyes puffy from crying. She attempted to wipe them away, smiling weakly. "I'm glad."

"Are you sure?" Edelgard stepped forward. "I wasn't sure of what to do, but I-"

Dorothea's smile grew bigger as she cut her off with a loud sniffle. "Yes, I'm sure. I actually... I want to talk to you about something, but..."

As she trailed off, she tilted her head and closed her eyes. Edelgard kept getting closer, then stopped to make sure she still gave Dorothea some space.

"It's about my... dad." She looked back up. "Do you remember the people we were making fun of at the overlook. I saw him with- talking to this woman I don't know, and I..." She stopped for a moment to sniffle again, then let out a bitter laugh. "It's funny, because I knew something was up, but I never really knew. Guess I found out."

Edelgard stayed silent, unsure of what to say. She remembered the couple they poked fun at, along with many others. And now that she thought about it, the way Dorothea acted afterwards made sense.

_(Suddenly Dorothea pulled away from the viewfinder and gave Edelgard a stern look. "What are we doing?" she asked, like she was scolding her._

_Edelgard let go of the viewfinder. "Uh, what?"_

_"Are we going to stand here and act like twelve year olds? When are we gonna do something fun?"_

_It was weird, because as childish as what they were doing was, both of them seemed to have been enjoying making stupid remarks about strangers a few seconds ago. Dorothea was the one that started it, in fact._

_"Sure," she replied, unsure. "What do you want to do?"_

_Dorothea grabbed her wrist and huffed, before plastering a smile on her face effortlessly. "Why don't we steal something?"_

_They ended up snatching a bottle of cheap wine from a couple. Dorothea got only worse after that.)_

"I love my dad," Dorothea admitted, "that's the worst part. I love him, and I never want to see his fucking face ever again."

She reached into one of her back pockets of her jeans and pulled out a picture - though she didn't even glance at it once, and instead just held it in her hand.

"Edelgard," she started, "I owe you an apology."

"I owe you one too-" she quickly said in return, but stopped when Dorothea put up her hand.

She opened her mouth, closed it, and took a deep breath. "I- I feel the same about, you know. I also think that whatever it is that we have, it's - new, and exciting, and amazing and..." She took a moment to recollect herself and clean her throat. "You were brave enough to point it out back there, and in response I treated you like shit. I ran away like a coward."

"You're not a coward," Edelgard reassured her. When she reached out to connect their palms, Dorothea didn't pull away. "You're just sad, and mad, and - I just know how it feels like... Whatever this is, we have time to figure it out."

Dorothea's seemed to lighten up ever so slightly with that. "Well, I'd say a few hours actually. Tomorrow's probably going to be _messy_."

"Right," she sighed, distressed. "My uncle might skip grounding and go straight to death penalty." He would, without a doubt.

"Fuck your uncle," Dorothea spit, deflating once again.

"And fuck your dad," Edelgard nodded. "Gosh, sometimes I wish I could leave this place and never look back."

Dorothea's eyes glistened, with hope rather than tears this time. "What's stopping us?"

For some reason, Edelgard held onto the _“us”_ more than she probably should've. "Really? So if I were to come to your door and tell you to pack your bags-

"I would do it, no hesitation." She gave Edelgard a smile. "I'm tired of this place, I just - I need to get out. Clearly so do you. Let's just - fuck it, let's leave this town."

The wind was blowing quietly as Edelgard stared at her. She considered it for a bit; it was rash, it had come out of nowhere, and they definitely needed a plan, but - "Okay... Sure, let's."

Dorothea giggled softly. "Then it's settled... Now, do you have a lighter?"

She pulled it out and gave it to Dorothea, who took it gracefully. Without a moment of hesitation, she held the photo over the trashcan nearby and lit it up, before throwing it inside. As the flames consumed the trash can, Edelgard watched the girl silently as her expression went from angry, to sorrowful, to once again absolutely devastated in a matter of seconds. She looked beautiful nonetheless, especially as the flames reflected in her eyes, but she was in so much pain and she didn't even know how to properly deal with it.

Maybe they weren't that different after all.

"Come on," she whispered but Dorothea did not move; instead, she kept watching as the flames grew bigger, bigger than they possibly could have. Slowly, Edelgard was becoming more concerned. "Doro-"

Suddenly, Dorothea kicked over the trashcan and started screaming at the top of her lungs.

The air suddenly shifted, became more violent: the fire was spreading to the bushes, and slowly to the trees. Behind their backs came a strong gust of wind, so strong that it caused Edelgard to lurch. Dorothea kept screaming in agony as she doubled down and stood on her knees, hands grabbing the earth beneath them firmly.

She dropped on her knees as well, trying to hold Dorothea in her arms, and when she hugged Edelgard back, Dorothea stopped screaming and instead started sobbing loudly.

The fire slowly got bigger, big enough to swallow the entire oak tree next to them. She watched it all happen, still holding as tight as possible, and took a deep breath before she said, "Let's get out of here." And while the flames began to consume the entire forest, they walked away, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not sure when i'll be able to update this, but i hope it'll be soon! lis is a game series that's really close to my heart, and i just enjoy mashing my interests together a bit too much, i guess.
> 
> i hope you're all enjoying it so far!


	2. brave new world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I still had a lot of fun! Only some of it sucked, at least.” She turned around with a grin on her face and looked her right in the eyes intensely. “You know what doesn’t suck?”
> 
> Edelgard raised her eyebrows. “What?”
> 
> “You.”

It was extremely quiet inside the principal's office when she opened the door.

Edelgard didn't move for a second, and stood at the door to take a look at what she was about to deal with. There were five people inside: the headmaster Rhea, vice-principal Seteth, Dorothea, and her parents. She couldn't help but give her father the stink eye when he looked back to see who came in.

"You're late," remarked Seteth, looking directly at Edelgard. She stared right back at him.

Her uncle nudged her with his foot for her to go inside. "My apologies, we've run into a slight problem." He did not sound apologetic in the slightest, which must've caught the Arnault's off guard. They both gave him weird looks, whereas Dorothea didn't even bother looking back.

When she sat down on the chair next to her, Edelgard saw that Dorothea looked extremely composed; but as she glanced at her for a split second, she could see the rage, the hatred deep inside her eyes. It seemed they were both filled with anger - in the presence of the principal, no less.

Rhea was smiling unnervingly, as she always did. Edelgard hated her. "Now that we are all here, we shall begin. Seteth?"

"Right." He recomposed himself as if he didn't look ridiculous enough already. "One of you here is new to the disciplinary process... The other is all too familiar with it," he stared at Edelgard again. She tried her best not to put a finger up, and instead smiled at him just to piss him off even more.

She felt like being a brat today.

"Miss Hresvelg," he gritted through his teeth. "Do you remember our agreement from last time?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" she asked.

Seteth clicked his tongue. "Your disrespectfulness is baffling... No matter, we agreed that you would rededicate yourself to becoming an exemplary citizen. However, your actions, especially what happened yesterday, indicate that you have no desire of doing so."

"There are several rumours concerning Miss Hresvelg," continued Rhea, eyes set on her uncle. "Mr. Arundel, are you aware of Edelgard's general habits? Do you have any suspicions regarding her?"

Edelgard felt like her blood was getting drained, and suddenly she found it impossible to move. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Dorothea slightly raise her eyebrows - probably trying to figure out what Rhea was trying to get at. The question was very vague and her intentions were unclear, but Edelgard knew her uncle would not give an answer that would benefit her in any way.

He must have thought the same, as well. "What kind of suspicions?"

"Anything that would be linked to substance abuse, specifically-"

"Excuse me?" Edelgard couldn't help but interrupt, feeling her blood boil. "My _sincerest_ apologies, Principal, but if you are to accuse me of taking drugs, I would like to know the source of this claim." There were so many other things she could be accused for, but this was just bullshit. She had an idea where this might’ve come from, but how could Rhea possibly know about _him_? Was it that one time..?

Rhea's smile stayed in place as she talked. "Our responsibility is to make sure the Blackwell Academy is a safe place for everyone, and for that we take every detail about our students very seriously. We absolutely cannot overlook anything - especially something as serious as this."

_ Bullshit. _ There were worse students than Edelgard, but she was the one being punished because of a  _ rumour. _

"On top of this," Seteth pulled out a paper, seemingly out of nowhere, "we have been told that you tried to sabotage a student's homework, putting her academic goals at risk." 

Had she been a little less angry, she would've laughed - of course Hilda had gone to the administration to report her, but she probably hadn't realised until someone else pointed it out. "I see," she started, "I have done that, sure. However, I believe Blackwell has, or  _ used  _ to have a zero tolerance policy on plagiarism?"

"Miss Goneril will be reprimanded as well, if that is what you're wondering."

_ She is not but sure, go ahead.  _ Edelgard scoffed without voicing her thoughts.

She was absolutely not in the right mindset to deal with this right now - her brain was filled with the memories from yesterday - with Dorothea. The game they played together on the train, their 'fight' if you could really call it that, a half-confession from both sides, the fire that Dorothea started, which had become much bigger than they thought in only a matter of an hour… So big that it was still ongoing after so many hours.

"And of course, yesterday-"

Dorothea cleared her throat beside her. "Excuse me, vice principal. I need to say something regarding that."

Edelgard first looked at her and saw the way her lips were slightly curled upwards, then turned her attention to Seteth. He seemed to have softened a little bit. "Of course, Miss Arnault. Go ahead."

"I believe that you think Edelgard convinced me to skip school yesterday... But in reality, it was the exact opposite - I was the one who brought it up."

Everyone, including Edelgard, gasped at once.

"That can't be true! My sweet 'Thea-" her mother tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but Dorothea held a hand up to stop her.

"I was having a bad day," she started, a tad dramatically. "I needed to blow off some steam and I took it too far. But Edelgard - oh,  _ Edelgard...  _ She tried to talk me out of it, told me that she had been down that road, that it would not end well... But alas, I did not listen to her."

She took a shaky breath as she wiped her cheeks for effect. "And yes, she came with me, but only to keep me safe. Goddess knows what I would've done had she not been there to save me; graffiti, alcohol, maybe even... Maybe even  _ drugs- _ "

"That is enough," the man, who was supposedly her father _ ,  _ demanded. "I can't accept this, you are not this kind of person!"

Rhea tore her gaze from Dorothea to look at Edelgard. "Is this true?"

"It's true," Dorothea quickly answered before she could even open her mouth. That is, if she could have - she was too shocked to do or say anything, really. Rhea, however, seemed determined to get an answer from Edelgard. "Please do not pressure her, headmaster," pleaded Dorothea, "she is probably stressed out over this, when she has no reason to be. I was the one who asked - no, I  _ forced  _ her to come..."

She was a great actor, indeed.

But it did not stop there. Dorothea looked right into her eyes as she continued. "I said, 'Edelgard, if you get blamed for this, you will be in  _ serious _ trouble. Whereas I, having a _ perfect record _ at Blackwell, will not... Think about it,' I told her. Really,  _ really  _ think about it."

It took Edelgard a while to realise she was trying to talk her out of admitting anything, and almost let out an  _ ‘oh’ _ .

"This is certainly disappointing," Rhea sighed after a pause. "This being your first infraction in no way reduces its severity, therefore action must be taken. I will not be suspending you, however," she paused and looked at Edelgard once again. "you will no longer be involved in Blackwell's performance of  _ The Tempest. _ "

Everyone in the room, including Seteth, gasped once again.

"This isn't right, Rhea, the performance is tonight! This is-"

But Edelgard couldn't hear whatever it was that they were talking about, as she was too focused on Dorothea's reaction. Dorothea, who had been so composed, so calm during the entire conversation, looked absolutely  _ broken  _ after hearing Rhea. Of course she did, the theatre crew had been rehearsing for this play for more than five months - and she knew how much Dorothea actually cared about performing, as she always seemed to be there whenever the opportunity presented itself.

"...Unless Miss Hresvelg has something to say?"

Edelgard snapped her head to look at Rhea. She had to do something: clearly, Rhea didn’t buy it and was expecting Edelgard to confess, which maybe was enough reason to go with what Dorothea had come up with. But then Dorothea wouldn’t be able to...

"Thank you for your _brilliant_ performance _,_ Dorothea," she snapped, suddenly, "but it really isn't needed. Miss Seiros, do you think a model student like her could have been the one to force _me_ into breaking the rules? By now, you should know that I love, and I mean _love_ going against your authority."

Her uncle took a step closer to her seat. "Edelgard, that is-"

"You don't wake up one morning and decide to be an outlaw," she continued, "you need training. And of course, who else will guide you if not the  _ resident trouble student?  _ I was the one to convince her to skip school, but the only person I would owe an apology to is Dorothea herself, not  _ Blackwell _ ."

"Edelgard-" she felt a hand above hers, and saw Dorothea giving her a look as if she was warning her. "It's- Don’t worry. You don't have to play the hero right now."

She paid no mind to it, and instead stared at Seteth. "I'm the worst student Blackwell's ever had, aren't I? I believe you were right about that,  _ vice president.  _ Why not just end it right here, right now, so that I don’t have to see either one of your faces ever again? Oh, have you considered shaving your ugly-"

Seteth punched the table, causing her to jump. "Enough! Rhea,  _ clearly _ Miss Arnault is not the one at fault here."

Rhea nodded before turning to Dorothea. "Although it warms my heart to see you standing up for your... friend, I appreciate honesty more than anything else. Is that understood?" Dorothea nodded, not meeting her eyes. "You will not be removed from the play."

Edelgard could hear her inhale shakily. "T-thank you... Headmaster."

"Now, for Edel-  _ Miss Hresvelg.  _ I came into today's meeting planning to suspend you for the rest of the school year, with a chance for reinstatement in autumn."

Her uncle shifted beside her. "And now?"

Rhea gave him another smile.

"She is expelled."

The junkyard looked uglier during the day.

Edelgard rummaged through a big pile as she tried to reach the bobblehead at the bottom of it - it had caught her eye from the distance and she'd decided that she  _ needed  _ it. For what, exactly, she didn't know; but maybe it would make good decoration.

"Aha!", she exclaimed as she grabbed it through the hole she created. "You're mine, Sakura!"

The tiny Sakura's head bobbled as Edelgard held it closer to her face to see whether it was too damaged to be used or not. Eventually, she decided it was in good condition. She got up from the dirt, cleaned the dust off her jeans and headed back to the wrecked building she came across.

Edelgard was not sure what it was supposed to be, or what it  _ used  _ to be, but she figured it would work as a hideout as she spent the next few days or maybe weeks here.

Now, all there was left to do was decorating.

From a distance, it looked  _ really  _ ugly: the faded mustard colour was unflattering, and the paint had come off in some places. Though the bump on its side was barely visible where Edelgard stood, so that was something. Taken everything into consideration, she probably should’ve been grateful that she’d even found something of worth in this pile of trash.

She got in and neatly placed the bobblehead on the table.

“Tell me, Sakura,” she whispered as she combed her hair with her fingers, sitting down on the old couch. “Does Rhea eat pizza with a fork and knife?” She then reached out to bobble her head  _ yes.  _ “Oh wow… I knew she was evil, but this takes the cake.”

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to see Dorothea had sent her a text.

**From: DOROTHEA**

i brought some stuff ^^ 

where are you?

**From: EDELGARD**

wait I’ll come to u

**From: DOROTHEA**

no need!

i think i found you

Edelgard looked outside the hole - or rather the window, and saw Dorothea walking towards her with a duffel bag in her hand. She waved at her when they made eye contact.

“You know,” Dorothea started, “it’s not nice to ignore someone for  _ three hours  _ right after you tell them you got  _ kicked out  _ of your own  _ house _ .”

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly, as she took the duffel bag from Dorothea. “I didn’t really know what to say.”

Dorothea looked around. “So you already found yourself a place. Too bad, I was thinking about asking you to come over.”

Edelgard snorted. “After today? You saw the way your- ah, the  _ district attorney  _ looked at me.”

“I never said I’d let him know.” She grabbed the tiny Sakura and started examining it as she sat next to Edelgard. “Speaking of that- I, well, I really don’t know how to thank you.”

Her eyes didn’t meet Edelgard’s, but she sounded sincere. She must have been, at least. “No need for that, you tried to cover for me too.”

“Tried and failed miserably,” Dorothea sighed. “Seriously though, do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, no.” Edelgard grabbed the little Sakura from her hands and put it back on the table.

She pouted. “Come on… It’ll be like a budget therapy session.”

That made Edelgard chuckle. “I wanna see the stuff you brought first.”

In the duffel bag were mostly a pair of Dorothea’s clothes; not like the ones she usually wore, though. They all looked comfortable to be in at least, so she was glad. She decided to go with the red sweatpants and simple white shirt, which were a bit too big for her. After attempting to make them fit and not succeeding, she (reluctantly) called Dorothea for help.

“You look cute,” she commented as soon as she came back inside (if you could even call it an inside when there were only two walls) and grabbed Edelgard by the drawstrings and pulled her closer. It was… quite intimate. A bit too much, even - she found it hard to breathe for a second. “I feel like red truly is your colour, it compliments you.”

“...Thanks?”

“I mean it brings out your beauty - oh, that sounds kinda bad,” she stepped back after adjusting the sweatpants. “I promise, it’s a compliment.”

What a weird conversation. Dorothea was acting unusual ever since she came by, she realised, but didn’t know what was off. “Thanks, I wouldn’t doubt it is.”

She giggled and sat back down. “So, therapy time?” Edelgard nodded and almost sat next to her but Dorothea patted her lap looking directly into her eyes.

“Huh?”

“We don’t have a therapy chair!” Dorothea explained. “The patients tend to lie during this, right? So the best thing we could do is lie on one another. Doesn’t it make sense?”

Not really. “Sure, yeah, it does.”

“You think it’s stupid, don’t you?” 

Edelgard shut her mouth. 

“Fine,” Dorothea sighed dramatically, “if you wanna sit upright and slouch then go ahead, but it won’t make you feel any better. Trust me.”

And Edelgard did - trust her, that is. She sat down next to her and gently put her head on her lap; it was comfortable, and Dorothea immediately started running her hand in Edelgard’d hair. “Okay, where do I start?”

“What happened with your uncle?”

They sat in silence while Edelgard tried to put words together, focusing on the way Dorothea played with her hair. Her presence was calming; she was patiently waiting for her to say something, knowing that it was hard for her to open up or talk about her own life, her own problems.

“After we left the school with my stuff,” she started, “he gave me a lecture about how disappointed he is, how I’m useless - to be honest, I don’t care enough to talk about that. He was mad, I was mad - as we always seem to be. When he asked me if I regret anything I’ve said there, I said no; so he went ‘Then don’t come back to my house until you do,’ and left without me.” She let out a sigh, trying to get the image of him looking down on her out of her mind. “That’s basically it.”

“Holy shit,” Dorothea whispered as she rubbed her left eye with her free hand. “I’m sorry…”

Edelgard sighed. “You have no reason to apologise. At least I won’t have to see his ugly face for a while… I just need to figure out a way to get by here in the junkyard.” She looked up and her eyes met with Dorothea’s for a split second - they were so unusually green, brighter than any other iris she’d seen in her life. She looked back to the ceiling. “And, seriously, thank you so much for the stuff you brought.”

“Don’t mention it,” she smiled, petting Edelgard’s head. “Now, about Blackwell…”

She snorted. “I have no idea how I feel about that, but I guess I’m fine.” Dorothea raised her eyebrows. “I know, I know. It probably still hasn’t hit me yet. For now I’m happy that I won’t have to see the people there so early in the morning.”

Dorothea pouted. “You won’t get to see me either. Aren’t you sad about that?”

It was a question she wasn’t expecting. “Uh… I-it’s not like we were seeing each other that much anyway? Also you know where I am, whenever you want to visit.”

“Great,” Dorothea chimed, leaning in closer to Edelgard’s face, “how kind of you. I was actually trying to get you to say,  _ ‘Oh, Dorothea! However will I live without seeing your pretty face around, walking around with a bedhead and mismatched clothing?’,  _ so I could invite you to see me at the play today.”

Edelgard giggled. “Your clothes are never- wait. The Tempest?” Dorothea nodded enthusiastically. “Oh. That would be great, but I don’t think I’m allowed to set foot on the campus anymore.”

“And that’s gonna stop you because..?”

She had a point. Why was Edelgard, a known troublemaker who was expelled for the number of rules she’d broken, suddenly being mindful of what she was and was not allowed to do? “Alright then. When does it start?”

“At seven, but I would prefer it if you could help me out backstage beforehand.” She leaned back and Edelgard took the opportunity to sit upright again. “Is six alright for you?”

Edelgard made a humming noise. “I’ll have to check my schedule... I’m a busy person.” Dorothea rolled her eyes at that, but the corners of her mouth were curled up. “Hey, is there anything  _ you _ want to talk about? Yesterday was…”

Dorothea’s face fell almost immediately as she looked away from her. “...Yeah. I don’t think I want to talk about it.”

That was alright, of course; but Edelgard couldn’t help but wish to offer her help as Dorothea did for her.

“I still had a lot of fun! Only some of it sucked, at least.” She turned around with a grin on her face and looked her right in the eyes intensely. “You know what doesn’t suck?”

Edelgard raised her eyebrows. “What?”

“You.”

“Oh…” Her throat went dry and she had to look away. It didn’t help that Dorothea had said it with full confidence. “You, uh, also don’t suck.”

She giggled before getting on her feet. “I know, but appreciate the sentiment.” Edelgard laughed nervously. “Then I will see you soon?”

Edelgard didn’t even get the chance to say something about the fire before she left.

The thing was; Edelgard enjoyed spending time by herself, liked the peace and solitude. However, she was terribly bored; after touring around the entire junkyard she was running out of things she could do there by herself. So she decided to leave and get to Blackwell early.

It was still five o’clock when she arrived. The school was quite far from the junkyard; her feet were  _ killing  _ her by the time she’d made it to the stairs and she couldn’t find it in her to take them. She thought no one was around to see her, or for her to see, until she heard footsteps approaching.

“Edelgard!” Right in front of her stood Petra, clutching one strap of her backpack. She was at the top of the stairs. “What are you doing here?”

It took her a few seconds to answer, either because she was exhausted or not expecting to see anyone. “Ah. Hello, Petra.” She nodded curtly. “Nice to… see you here.”

Petra was one of the few people Edelgard actually liked in Blackwell; she was only a freshman, yet had proved herself to both the students and teachers with her outstanding performance. Edelgard had been the person to first show her around the campus when she was still struggling with the language and communicating with people. Although she tried to help her as much as possible, Petra had practiced by herself and had become nearly fluent.

In a way, the way she was praised by the teachers had reminded Edelgard of times when she was like that, too, and she’d found herself hoping Petra did not end up being like her.

“It is…  _ weird  _ to see you. In Blackwell.” Petra dropped her hand and gave a knowing smile. “But nice to see you too. Are you having business here?”

Edelgard nodded. “I, uh, decided to see The Tempest! So I am here.”

Petra raised an eyebrow. “You? The Tempest?”

“It’s… not really my area of interest, I’m aware,” she sighed, “but I have nothing better to do. Maybe it will be entertaining after all.”

“I understand. Still, you’re being strange,” she cocked her head sideways and went down the stairs so they would be on the same level. “You got expelled this morning.”

Maybe she was taking it a bit too well, as Dorothea had said, but Edelgard wasn’t really bothered by it that much. The only thing that made her mad was Rhea, but that one was nothing new. “I don’t mind,” she shrugged as dismissively as she could, “even if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t change a single thing about yesterday.”

“Skipping with Dorothea Arnault…” She hummed. “It has some appeal, yes, but this is more about your stupid decisions from before.”

Edelgard liked it when Petra was blunt - she snorted into her fist. “I know, resident troublemaker Hresvelg. Sorry, I’m still not going to apologise for my past actions.”

Petra let out a long sigh. “So yesterday… Something happened, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“You and Dorothea. Are you two lovers?”

Silence fell on them.

Edelgard tried to slowly digest the words as she spluttered, and Petra kept staring at her, awaiting her answer. Where had that question even come from? Were people already gossiping about them after they’d spent one day together? Had anyone  _ seen  _ them?

“L-lovers?” She scratched her cheek, looking away. “Where did that come from?”

“I can see you are interested for her,” Petra explained, unphased by her nervousness. “And she is too, I think. Hey- you’re blushing!”

Of course she was. Edelgard patted her cheeks and turned her back to Petra. “It must be from, uh, the exhaustion. Dorothea and I aren’t… together.”

“But you want to be?”

“ _ Petra! _ ”

From behind came Petra’s giggle. She turned around to find her covering her mouth. “Cute... Hey, I know you mustn't come to campus, but text me if you do again. Caspar wants to play D&D with you.”

“Oh yeah!” She’d forgotten about the last time the three of them had played that tabletop game together, but it was really fun. “I would be happy to play together again, haven’t gotten the chance to see Caspar in a while.”

Petra pouted. “He is sad these days, I don’t know why. But I will talk to him about it!” She slowly started walking away, waving a hand. “I need to go now, sorry. See you later, Edelgard!”

“See you, Petra!” She watched her back for a while, then hurried up the stairs that she’d been dreading to take before.

Lovers… The thought of it made Edelgard’s stomach queasy. Thinking about it, what were they even considered? Friends? Because they had admitted there was something more than that between them yesterday, but haven’t really talked about it ever since. Was it still too early to think about stuff like that? Because they were only now starting to get closer, but it was already clear to  _ others  _ that something was going on between them.

It was confusing and maybe even embarrassing to think about. Edelgard didn’t know what to do.

The tents were set up right next to the stage and the area was illuminated with string lights; it looked quite ethereal, especially with the way it looked on stage with the props and background. Though the situation at hand didn’t seem all that peaceful as Edelgard saw the people running around, seemingly stressed out. She found Ferdinand talking to Ms. Casagranda and approached them slowly.

“When was the last time you- oh!” Ferdinand caught the glimpse of her from the corner of his eye and turned around. “Edelgard! I thought you weren’t supposed to be on campus anymore.”

“You thought right then,” Edelgard huffed, turning to the teacher. “Is something the matter?”

Ms. Casagranda looked absolutely baffled, with hair sticking out and her makeup running down. “Dear, you have no idea! We are unable to reach one of the students and she was supposed to be here at least thirty minutes ago.” She let out a noise that sounded both like a groan and whine. “She’s  _ never  _ on time but this is just-”

“Manuela!” All three of them turned towards the voice at the same time and were met with Dorothea, hair up in a bun, no make-up and wearing casual clothes. She looked quite literally exhausted and down, pouting as she walked up to them. “We reached out to- oh, hello Edie,” she waved at her before turning back to the teacher. “So, we managed to reach out to Mr. Valentine and it seems Hilda... won’t be coming.”

While the other two stared at Dorothea, Edelgard asked, “Hilda? What’s up with her?”

“Her father was insistent on not saying anything,” she explained, “but said he’d be contacting Rh-  _ Principal Seiros  _ about it. So it must be serious.”

Ferdinand shook his head beside her. “This is terrible… What are we supposed to do now?”

Edelgard turned back to Ms. Casagranda. “You don’t have any replacements?”

“Sadly, no. Dear Annette is already filling in on someone else’s role and she was all we had. Now, where are we going to find someone-”

“Manuela, it’s fine,” Dorothea reassured her, then slowly turned to Edelgard. “I’ll figure something out. Leave it to me.”

And before she could even hear what Ms. Casagranda had to say, Edelgard was being pulled away by Dorothea to one of the tents. When they got inside, Dorothea closed the curtain and turned around with a bright smile on her face - yet it wasn’t bright enough to hide how tired she was. “Well! I’m glad you could come. You’re still wearing the same clothes, huh?”

Edelgard shrugged. “They are comfortable.”

“I know, they’re mine after all.” She winked. “No matter. As you can see, we’re currently in utter chaos... You caught us at a bad time.”

“What exactly is going on?” Edelgard looked around the tent; it looked like the dressing room, with all the costume racks around them and stacks of makeup materials in front of the mirrors. “Is Hilda okay?”

Dorothea shook her head. “Something must have happened, but I don’t know what it is. She was supposed to play Ariel tonight but it seems we need a replacement as soon as possible.”

Of course it wasn’t right of her to blame Hilda for the situation when she had no idea what had happened to her, but she couldn’t help but get mad at her for giving everyone a hard time.

“Which is exactly why…” she got closer to Edelgard and booped her nose, “we need you.”

Edelgard blinked. “Need me for what?”

“Okay, I know you  _ just  _ got here, sorry, but-” she smirked and turned Edelgard around towards the mirror in front of them. “Have you ever considered theatre, m’lady?”

Silence. “Oh,  _ absolutely n- _ ”

“ _ Edie, _ ” she whined, “I don’t want to force you, but you’re the only one who can fill in for the role right now. I’ve seen your  _ skills  _ this morning, you know?”

“That was-”

“I know, I’m just joking. But this play means a lot to me and I know that I can trust you.” Dorothea leaned in a bit closer, “Please… Do it for me?”

Edelgard stared at the reflection in the mirror with disgust. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

When she’d agreed to come to the show she never considered the possibility of actually being a part of it - because of course, why would she? And yet here she stood in front of the mirror, looking at the costume and her hair up in a weird ponytail - with feathers in it. Blue feathers, in her hair. It didn’t seem real. 

The make-up on her face was extreme and quite thick, enough to make her sweat just by standing. Dorothea had kept going at it, saying it was normal, but Edelgard was suffocating.

“Me neither, trust me,” Dorothea admitted as she fixed her own costume. Hers looked much less hideous - probably because she was  _ Dorothea Arnault  _ and  _ made  _ for the stage, but still. Her makeup made her eyes look even more vibrant. “It’s good that Hilda is, like, only two inches shorter than you. It couldn’t have fit any better than this.”

“I meant I look ridiculous.”

Dorothea sighed. “Edie… It’s a costume for a Shakespeare play, of  _ course  _ it’s ridiculous. Now, how are you doing with the lines?”

Edelgard scoffed and looked down at the lines. Thankfully, she was good at memorising texts - a skill she took pride in. “I think I got it, but…” She read one of the lines out loud. “I don’t know what the intonation should be like for this one.”

“If you got the general idea for the scene you should be fine…” She felt a hand on her shoulder. “Nobody expects you to do it flawlessly anyway, so don’t worry. Just do your best, okay?”

She nodded with a sign. “Fine… I just want to see how Rhea will react to seeing me.”

Dorothea let out a bark. “Oh yeah, me too.”

They went backstage together and waited until everyone was seated. Edelgard kept going over her lines, saying them over and over again; though worry was eating her insides no matter how hard she tried to ignore it. She took a deep breath when Ms. Casagranda went on stage to announce the play and looked at Dorothea, who was looking back at her with a smile.

“Are you nervous?” Edelgard nodded. “Figures. I assure you, it’s going to be okay.”

The applause coming from the audience indicated that the play was starting. How many people were out there? It wasn’t that she was scared of the audience, but everything was too sudden and so out of her comfort zone, she couldn’t help but feel stressed out.

“Edelgard.”

It felt weird to hear Dorothea say her name instead of ‘Edie’. “Yeah?”

“Thank you,” she grabbed one of her hands and squeezed it. “And good luck.”

Before she could say it back, Dorothea let go of her hand and walked up to the stage. With each step she took towards the light she shined a bit brighter; it wasn’t the light, nor the moon shining down on them. It was her own shine, illuminating the stage by its own force without the help of any outside source. Was it even possible for one person to shine this much?

She was so bright that Edelgard couldn’t look away.

The play started and she went right back to going over her lines; she was in a few scenes, but most of her lines were cut-off, thankfully. It was a school play after all, they had watered down the work enough to fit it under 40 minutes. The language was tricky, but Edelgard had paid just enough attention in English to be able to read and speak Shakespearean without any big issues. Though she never would’ve guessed she’d be acting out any of his roles like this.

It was also a problem that she’d not read the entire peace before, obviously, but she would try to do her best - that was what Dorothea had wanted from her, right?

“Edelgard,” someone whispered from behind, after some time. Edelgard turned around to see the gray-haired kid (was his name Ashe?) point at the stage with his head - that was her cue to get ready. She mouthed  _ thank you  _ to him and took a final glance at the text, then prepared herself for… whatever was about to happen.

On stage, Dorothea was looking far away as Constance sat on the floor; she was reciting the lines so naturally that it gave Edelgard actual chills.

“ Here, cease more questions,” she shushed Constance, who was sitting on the floor. “Thou art inclined to sleep. ’Tis a good dullness, and give it way. I know thou canst not choose.”

Constance let out a yawn as she put her head on one of the big rocks and slowly closed her eyes.

After that, Dorothea turned her body towards where Edelgard stood and made eye contact with her. It made Edelgard’s breath hitch for a second. “Come away, servant, come. I am ready now.”

She took a deep breath and attempted to take a step, but someone pulled her back from her arm. It was, once again, the same kid. He whispered  _ one more line _ before Dorothea proved him right by tilting her head and reciting, “Approach, my Ariel. Come!”

Would it be stupid to take another deep breath?

Edelgard tried not to let her awkwardness show as she walked on stage; she was afraid she’d make the mistake of looking at the audience and get distracted by them, yet it was easy to focus on Dorothea and no one else. It was  _ too  _ easy, in fact.

“All hail, great mistress,” she greeted her, trying to sound as natural as possible. Though her words did not flow as well as Dorothea’s. “I come to... answer thy best pleasure.”

Dorothea’s eyes gleamed. “Most fearless, generous spirit,” she greeted back. “Hast thou performed to point the tempest that I bade thee?”

“To every article,” Edelgard affirmed. “I boarded the King’s ship; now on the beak, in the waist, the deck, in every cabin, I flamed amazement.”

“My brave spirit! Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil would not infect his reason?”

Dorothea was staring at her so intensely, but not in a bad way. It was almost like she was trying to give Edelgard the motivation she needed. “Not a soul,” she said plainly, then decided she’d stood still for too long and took her eyes off of Dorothea for a more dramatic effect. “But felt a fever of the mad, and played some tricks of desperation. The King's son,  _ Ferdinand _ , was the first man that leaped from his ship, and cried… Hell is empty! And all the devils are here.”

Someone in the audience let out a quiet ‘yes!’ out. Constance shifted slightly, probably trying her best not to laugh at Edelgard’s atrocious acting.

“But are they, Ariel, safe?” asked Dorothea.

The notes here said to walk… somewhere, she remembered. So Edelgard turned to the prop at the end and started walking towards it. Was she supposed to talk while walking? That didn’t seem right.

“Not a hair perished,” she said, still. “On their sustaining garments not a blemish, but fresher than before; and, as thou bad’st me, in troops I have dispersed them ’bout the isle.”

Dorothea made a quick motion with her hand to call her back over. Edelgard complied.

“Ariel, thy charge exactly is performed. But there’s more work!”

“Oh,” she unnecessarily added to make herself sound more natural. “Is there more toil? Let me remember thee what thou hast promised, which is not yet performed me”

Dorothea raised her eyebrows and took a step forward, minimizing the gap between them. “How now? What is ’t thou canst demand?”

“My liberty, of course.” (Fuck, there wasn’t an  _ of course  _ there.)

It was then when…  _ something  _ changed in Dorothea’s eyes, and there was a playful curve on her lips. “Thy liberty?” She violently shook her head and raised her voice. “Nay! This most of all I will not grant!”

Edelgard’s brain short-circuited. That wasn’t her line, was it? She was supposed to-

“I never said how dearly I hold thee; my habit's been to keep my soul well-draped,” Dorothea continued as she took another step. “Most loyal spirit, companion and... friend,” she blinked with her eye facing the back. “Is acting in my service not replete with excitement, amusement, and delight?”

Was she improvising? It wasn’t like Dorothea to ruin such an important event like this, but… what did she have in mind? Was Edelgard supposed to play along? “O-of course!”

“Then why, I pray you, wish you to be free?”

More than anything, it felt like a question that was directly being asked to her; she thought about it for a bit. “Excitement ages quickly,” she answered, looking directly into Dorothea’s eyes. “and I fear, you- er, thou will tire of the excitement I bring, and... I will be alone again.”

A confession, in front of so many people, with their eyes glued on the two; yet at that moment no one else could understand them, they couldn’t even come close. They were alone, together, in a crowd of strangers and foes.

Dorothea snapped her out of it by stomping her staff on the ground. “I have thee in my grasp and I will not bend. I will not see thee flying forth alone. The envy... would be more than I could bear.”

And this time, it was Dorothea’s confession to her. Edelgard’s eyes widened and suddenly, everything else around them felt bleak. Knowing their setting, it was impossible to tell whether Dorothea was being genuine or not, but it felt so raw, so real. Edelgard wanted to believe.

“Then come with me! Is that not in thy power?”

And so she believed.

Dorothea’s smile grew as she finally closed the distance between them completely. “Ariel,” she said as she held one of Edelgard’s hands, and dropped to her knees in front of her. A gasp came from the audience. “For but a little longer I beseech: continue in thy service to my schemes. And when they are complete, I swear to thee: we shall fly beyond this isle, the corners of the world, our mere prologue.”

_ Run away with me. _

She did not stop there. “I'll seek to make thy happiness so great that e'en the name of liberty's forgotten. What sayest thou to my most hopeful wish?”

_ (“You and Dorothea. Are you two lovers?”) _

Maybe not in that sense, no. Maybe they were still unable to reach that status, currently. Yet this, whatever it was, felt way more powerful than any love confession Edelgard had heard of. Dorothea’s hand in hers, warm and soft, a thumb stroking it slowly as she kept looking - expecting an answer. And, well, who was Edelgard to refuse such an offer?

“Yes, my mistress,” she said, quieter than before. People in the audience cheered on them like it was a shitty live-studio show, some of them even whistled to make matters worse. It was extremely embarassing.

As she got up, Dorothea’s eyes were glimmering with hope and… maybe something else. “I am most glad.” She then changed her expression into something more neutral. “ Your duty, done for now. So go forth hence with haste! I have work to do.”

Edelgard smiled at her one last time and turned around to exit the stage. As soon as she was out of sight, she simply let herself fall on her knees and let out a sob.

It really was the truth; Dorothea truly had her in her grasp, in any way possible.

“Wait, you’re telling me you’ve not looked at Rhea’s face even once?”

“Hey, I was too stressed out!” Edelgard protested with a pout. “How am I supposed to pay attention to both the script and the audience?”

It was nearing 10 o’clock when they’d left Blackwell together, after the mini celebration. Edelgard had offered to walk Dorothea home as she had nothing better to do or an actual home to go back to, and Dorothea had accepted the offer quite readily. Now, they were taking their time actually making it there, chatting away.

“Such a shame… It was absolutely hilarious, like-” she made a face, portraying the horror in Rhea’s eyes. Edelgard giggled loudly. “Gods, it’s not half as funny if I’m doing it.”

Her giggle turned into laughter. “No, I can definitely imagine it. Good thing I didn’t look, though, I would have laughed so hard.”

Dorothea shook her head. “With your level of acting? No way.”

“Please, Dorothea-”

“ _ Oh, the almighty Edelgard,”  _ she started shouting out of nowhere,  _ “share a piece of your glory-” _

Edelgard tried to shush her, feeling incredibly flustered. Nobody was around, but it was possible that people have heard them at home with how loud she spoke. “ _ Dorothea!  _ What was that about?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, smiling. “It just came to me, I think.”

“Do these things just come to you out of nowhere?”

Dorothea paused. “Wait, what things?”

Oh. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to mention  _ that  _ now.

Without paying mind to her, Edelgard kept walking. “Nothing important, don’t worry over it! I just-”

“Edie, will you please look at me.”

She stopped and took in a deep breath before turning around to face Dorothea. Her expression was calm but… somewhat troubled. “Um,” she tried to find the right words, “I was thinking about what happened on stage, and… Yeah.”

With that, Dorothea’s eyes gleamed once again and her expression softened. “That... really was something, huh?”

“Indeed,” she nodded.

Silence passed between them as they kept staring into each other's eyes. The atmosphere around them felt just as magical as it did onstage, but maybe it was more about them than the environment. Edelgard felt chilly, though not necessarily because of the wind.

“So,” Dorothea took a step forward. “What do you say? Should we leave?”

“Don’t you already know my answer?”

_ (Sometimes I wish I could leave this place and never look back, she had said.) _

“Yes,” Dorothea agreed, “but let me ask this again. Should we leave  _ now? _ ”

Edelgard blinked. “Now? We can’t just-”

“Oh come on, why not?”

( _ And Dorothea had told her, ‘What’s-’ _ )

“...stopping us?” It looked like she was expecting an actual answer.

She thought about it. There wasn’t anything that really tied them to Arcadia Bay, except- “What about your mother?”

“As much as I appreciate her,” she answered, “ I don't deserve to live in the middle of my parents' mistakes.”

That made sense. “Alright, well, how are we even planning to leave? We don’t have our own vehicles or anything of the sort.”

“Hitchhiking! Public transportation!” Dorothea scoffed like she was disappointed in her - which, she probably was. “Edie, we literally hopped on a train just yesterday, why couldn’t we do it again? Be a little creative!”

She rolled her eyes. “Right. What about money, then?”

That gained a laugh from Dorothea. “I have enough saved up in my piggy bank, don’t worry. Plus, I  _ could  _ steal some from the prick-”

“Isn’t that a bit-”

“ _ Edelgard, _ ” she insisted. “For fuck’s sake, I’m serious about this! I’ve actually never been more serious about anything else in my life.”

There was no doubt about it, was there?

_ (“ _ _ I have thee in my grasp and I will not bend. I will not see thee flying forth alone.”) _

Yet worry kept eating Edelgard from the inside like a thousand worms. “I just…” she failed to find the words. What else even was there to be said? Hadn’t the both of them already confessed, both on and off-stage?

“Edelgard, what will it take to convince you?”

She closed her eyes, and tried to steady her breath. There was, indeed, on her mind.

“How about, um…” she took a step forward without opening her eyes.

Dorothea made a noise at the back of her throat. “Uh, Edie?”

It was then that Edelgard opened her eyes and made eye-contact with Dorothea; and somehow, that was enough to make her understand. Her eyes grew as they dropped from Edelgard’s eyes to… her lips. “ _ Oh. _ ”

“Yeah…”

And in a matter of seconds, before Edelgard could even begin to take everything in, Dorothea had already pulled her in for a kiss, holding both of her hands. 

It started out slow as both of them tried to get used to it for a second, yet it was still dizzying enough. Everything else was lost in that moment; their promise together and how Dorothea tasted as their lips found each other was all that mattered to Edelgard right then. Then, it started to get more intense as Dorothea lifted up her chin with one hand and grabbed her waist with the other. She was caught off guard for a second, but the kiss was so easy to melt into.

Everything felt so good, so right.

When they broke off, they were both completely out of breath. Though, of course, it only took Dorothea a couple of breaths to recompose herself and sigh like they hadn’t made out for- what, three minutes? Two minutes at least. “So… hm, was that convincing enough?”

All Edelgard could do was nod, as she kept taking short breaths. Dorothea giggled.

“Then let’s go over to my place to get what we need,” she grabbed her hand and started pulling her lightly. “All we need is some cash and spare clothing.”

Edelgard squeezed her hand with a smile on her face. “Wait, where are we even going?”

“I already have that covered! We’ll head out to Los Angeles, wind in our hair, where it’s sixty degrees every night,” she explained dramatically. “You and me on the Santa Monica pier, gorging on food truck food as we look at the moon shining on the waves… Then suddenly, this guy sits next to us.”

“Oh no.”

Dorothea giggled. “He’ll look at you and say ‘You have beautiful eyes,’ and then I’ll grab him by his shirt,” she acted it out as she grasped the air, “and say ‘Back off, she’s with me.’”

“How is  _ everything  _ about you so dramatic,” Edelgard sighed, rolling her eyes. Though her smile stayed in place.

“Come  _ on,  _ admit it! You liked that.”

And though she didn’t want to admit it, Edelgard did allow herself to entertain that thought just for a moment. For some reason, everything felt possible with Dorothea by her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took me way longer than it was supposed to, but it's here! two months later..

**Author's Note:**

> [ [my twitter](https://twitter.com/edlethea) ]


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